A HAND UP NOT A HAND OUT
Mama T’s B & B, a Hand-Up, not a Hand-Out Homeless Shelter, was our first endeavor and opened its doors in 2015 in a limited way. After a time, we were able to operate 24/7, and offer individualized services, as we do to this date. We now refer to our emergency shelter as a Transitional Living Community because of the stigma among some who believe a homeless shelter is nothing more than a flop house where street people come to spend the night, eat, perhaps shower, and leave the next day. Mama T’s is far removed from that mental image.
We are what is known as a “high barrier” shelter where those coming in must abide by Rules & Regulations. If they violate those rules, there are consequences which are dependent on the seriousness of the violation – such as additional hours of room and board chores, write-ups and even temporary or permanent expulsion.
If applicable, aspiring residents must enter in-or-out patient counseling for drug and/or alcohol addiction. Random drug and alcohol testing are carried out at Mama T’s. Because we house men, women and children, and must protect them all, we do not admit individuals who have a history of violent or sexual offenses.
After a week of settling in, of learning the rules, as well as their assigned chores, residents will, working with our Case Manager, enter into a “Plan for Independence” which requires obtaining, and maintaining, employment, paying on outstanding debts, including but not limited to, child support and any existing warrants. After those have been paid for the month, they are required to save 40 percent of their remaining funds. Those saved dollars are returned to them when they leave Mama T’s so they have money to pay first and last month rental on low cost housing as well as utility deposits.
The Sunshine Academy, described below, will be on the backburner until such time as we have assured the continued financial success of Mama T’s B & B emergency shelter, which is our primary responsibility and obligation.
SOBER LIVING HOUSES FOR MEN AND WOMEN
A Steppingstone to Complete Independence
When residents of Mama T’s show progress on their Plans for Independence but, for one reason or another, are not yet secure in their readiness for completely independent living, they will be afforded the opportunity to move into one of our sober living facilities. There, they will pay minimal fees, will have more freedom to come and go, but will still be subject to curfew, as well as drug and alcohol testing and are required to continue periodic counseling through Mama T’s. They may remain at the sober living facility until they feel prepared to live entirely on their own.
While at the sober living facility, Case Managers will mentor residents on how to have the best chance of success in the world of the middle class. If appropriate, they will learn the difference between the generational poverty in which they grew up and the class they wish to join.
Included, among other subjects, will be the importance of speaking “formal” English during job interviews, of being punctual, and of not missing work unless it is a true emergency or illness.
SUNSHINE ACADEMY
​Stepping into a Brighter Tomorrow
The Sunshine Academy will be a long-term (30 month or more) program for those who have failed at life but are actively wanting to learn, improve and grow because of it. It is for those who won’t let their past failures keep them from ultimately living the life they were born to live and building the future they were meant to create. Everyone fails at one time or another; it is learning from those mistakes and getting up to try again that will separate graduates of the Sunshine Academy from life’s losers.
Students who enter the Sunshine Academy will learn a new way of living – not just of living but of living an honorable and successful life. The Sunshine Academy will change who they are and how they live. Though other centers focus on alcohol and/or drugs and see addiction as being the causative factor in life’s failures, the Sunshine Academy sees substance abuse as a symptom of a larger, more deep-seated, problem. Perhaps there were factors that predisposed the person entering the program to the dysfunctional life they have been living - the family’s economic problems during the student’s childhood, poor parenting, physical abuse, bad role models and other factors over which the student had no control; however, s/he must be willing to acknowledge that other people endure those same hardships and yet go on to work hard and lead ethical lives free of drugs, alcohol and dishonesty. They must be willing to own up to decisions they made which brought them to the lifestyle they now wish to leave behind. Recovery is always their responsibility irrespective of any background factors that made life difficult. Students may not yet be honorable and successful, but they will be when they leave the Sunshine Academy; in the meantime, they will “fake it till they make it.” That means they will be asked to act as if they already are the person they intend to become. They will do that until one morning they wake up and realize that s/he, her/his conscience, and determination, has become that new person, inside and out. Does it sound hard? It is! You get it is! But it is so worth it!! If students work hard and stick with it, they will head out into a new life armed with self-respect and pride in themselves.
The Sunshine Academy will be a community unto itself, based on ideas and organizations that existed before we came into being, organizations such as Delancy Street, founded in 1971, in San Francisco, that now has campuses in multiple cities throughout the country, and The Other Side Academy in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Denver, Colorado, both of which endeavors have been extremely successful in leading people into more rewarding lives. Having reviewed the published statistics, and having toured The Other Side Academy in Denver, we know their claims of achievement are indeed valid, and it is why we confidently choose to follow in their mold. We, of course, being a small city in southcentral Oklahoma, have downscaled and modified aspects of these organizations to suit our needs and goals as well as those of our students.
A stay at the Sunshine Academy will initially be nothing less than traumatic – a rough row to hoe. It’s to be expected as students detoxify from the outside world. They will be in a closed environment, forced to detach from the negative people, places and things associated with their previously dysfunctional lifestyles. This is essentially the last chance for violent offenders who, because of their history, would not be admitted to Mama T’s B & B emergency Transitional Living Community. They, in essence, will become voluntary prisoners, subject to constant surveillance and control though, of course, they will be free to exit the program at any time. Correspondence with an acceptable outside contact, telephone calls and visits will be earned after certain periods of time, and they will always be monitored and censored. Living in this cocoon will cause the student to become completely reliant on their new Sunshine family – a family that, through osmosis, will become their mentor and teacher as they, day by day, month by month, and year by year, step into a brighter tomorrow where a new life awaits.
Not only will it be difficult for students to work their way through the Sunshine Academy program, it will be equally difficult to be accepted as a student. The application and interview process can be equated to the rigors of applying for college admission. A person wishing to enter the Sunshine Academy must first send a letter of application asking to be admitted. They will then be interviewed in person; however, acceptance is never a given. What, or rather who, will we be looking for? Who will we not want?
The answer is that we will be attempting to look into the applicant’s soul. It is, therefore and obviously, a subjective process. Is s/he aware of, and do they regret, the hurt their way of living has caused family and friends? If their answers to our questions, their actions or facial expressions cause us to think not, they won’t be admitted. Most of the applicants have lived a life of lying, cheating, stealing and worse; they are probably experts at it. Are they now trying to “con” us in an attempt to avoid or minimize prison time? We won’t want him or her. Though perhaps weak in spirit, does this applicant truly want to change? If we think so, we will be willing to admit that person and give him or her a chance to become a respectable human being.
A person on the street, anxious or desperate, in a moment of clarity, to change his or her life, may come to the academy at any time of the day or night. They will ring the doorbell and sit on the “Chair of Accountability.” He or she will be interviewed right then and, if accepted, will enter the Academy immediately. There will be no charge to attend and live at the Academy, although the student will share responsibility, along with the other students, for the expenses of running what will now become their family of choice. If the prospective student is actively, physically dependent, s/he will be directed to a detox facility such as the Breakthru Medical Withdrawal Program at Mercy Hospital or Red Rock Behavioral Services in Norman. The reason for this is that initial withdrawal from certain drugs can be serious and life-threatening. The Sunshine Academy will not have medical staff capable of handling such a dangerous situation.
If the prospective student is incarcerated, that individual will have to write us a letter requesting admission, stating his or her reasons for wanting to change their life. We will interview that person in jail. If we accept the individual, we will write a letter of admission which s/he may share with his or her attorney who will, in turn, present it to the court in an effort to convince the judge to direct the prisoner to the Mama T’s Sunshine Academy in lieu of additional jail time.
We will not accept:
*Sex Offenders
*Arsonists
*Applicants with assaults on police officers
*Applicants who will require mental health medication
If you would like more detailed information about our plans for the Sunshine Academy and how it will run, please contact the President of the Mama T’s Board of Directors, Dania Deschamps-Braly, at president@mamatsada.com or our Executive Director, Jeremy Johnson at jeremy@mamatsada.com. We will be more than happy to set up an appointment to visit in person.